A video journalist is fighting a court application by police to force him to hand over footage he shot of the English Defence League.

Jason Parkinson, who fought a lenghty battle backed by the National Union of Journalists against a similar attempt to get footage of the Dale Farm eviction in Essex in 2011, said he has no intention of handing over any footage.

Parkinson added that journalists are "not evidence gatherers for the police" and handing over the footage would overturn an "incredibly important victory" in the high court last year when it was ruled he did not have to hand over the Dale Farm video.

Greater Manchester police had applied for a production order with a hearing on Monday 18 February to see all published and unpublished footage shot between the hours of 10.30am and 12.30pm at an EDL march and counter protest organised by Unite Against Fascism in Bolton on Saturday 20 March 2010.

The NUJ, which is supporting Parkinson, said it intends to oppose the application.

Parkinson said: "I am not willing to hand unpublished material over. Journalists report the news and are not evidence gatherers for the police or anyone else. To do so would endanger the safety of all journalists in similar situations in the future. We would not be regarded as independent and would become greater targets from all sides.

"Also handing over the footage could overturn the incredibly important victory for press freedom we achieved fighting the Dale Farm production order last year."

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@guardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.